


Closer

by Jai_l_Bird



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Denial, Guilt, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 08:51:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2767097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jai_l_Bird/pseuds/Jai_l_Bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A run in with some criminals went seriously wrong. Landing one man in a hospital bed and the other is worried sick. But something awful could lead into something remotely sweet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> I hope you like it. I had the story mapped out rather differently... then it turned out like this :'D.   
> Since I'm not a native speaker I'm grateful for any corrections.

It had been five agonizing days, before the circus boy had first opened his eyes. He'd been checking in on him, each night after patrolling this past two weeks. Always coming and going when no one would notice him.

He felt guilty, even though he couldn't be sure that it was his own bullet that literally knocked Nightwing off the roof. In fact he was pretty sure it wasn't. Didn't change the fact, that the other one had joined one of his fights and nearly got killed due to it. Nightwing wasn't supposed to be there, really. He had been intruding. Not shutting up about not having to go rouge and becoming an anti hero. It wouldn't be too late to join the team again...blah blah... Just the kind of talk Red Hood needed while dodging bullets and disarming mobsters when busting a major drug deal. All the while trying not to aim for any vital areas with his own guns. Because he didn't want to accidentally kill anyone while Nightwing was watching and distracting him. Even though that might have gotten him to finally keep his mouth shut and leave him be.  
In the end it had been a bullet that got his predecessor to stop prattling. Jason could still hear the sickening sound of Nightwing's impact with the asphalt, the pained scream before he had went all too quiet. The stillness that had set all around him, before red hot anger had clouded his mind and panic had clawed at his guts. He had made quick work of the remaining gangsters. Not worrying at all about sparing their lives. 

Jason shouldn't be here, he had no right to be. It was enough that he had taken Dick to the first woman that came to mind, concerning fatal injuries on strangely dressed John Doe's, Dr. Leslie Thompkins.  
He was just about to leave, when he felt a surprisingly strong grip on his wrist, holding him back. "Don't…don't go Jason.", Dick was sitting up looking almost as pale as the sheets from the struggle to get his upper body in a horizontal position. "Fuck..Dick...lay back down. I sure as hell won't protect you from Doc Thompkins' wrath when your stupidity results in your wounds reopening.”, Jason warned, his voice raw. Thoroughly irritated, since the object of his fretting wasn't cooperating in the least. “Are you ..worried ..about me?”, Dick wanted to know.

He had been pacing back and forth in front of the operating room worrying his bottom lip, disheveling his own hair even more, than the helmet already had done. The string of curse words leaving his mouth had caused more than one nurse to pass by shaking their heads in disapproval.  
Then there had been relieve and and he felt himself releasing that breath he hadn't known he had been holding, as Dr. Thompkins had emerged and told him that she had managed to stabilize Dick. Although it had been a close call and he would have to withhold from any exercise whatsoever for the next few weeks for his wounds to have a proper chance of healing.

“No?! You're alive aren't you?", he downplayed any concern and he surely wasn't worried.   
Dick didn't think it necessary to let go of his wrist, even while Jason was trying to forcefully but somehow gently push him back onto the sheets. He only smiled up at him mischievously. How did he manage to in his state? The strong painkillers Dick was on probably made him high. “Then..stay..” 

Jason looked a bit taken aback at those words. Yepp, definitely on drugs.   
'Why him?' Was the question that still wormed its way into his mind. He didn't care to give it voice though. It only took him seconds to regain a somewhat calm appearance. “Fine. Then YOU have to do what you do best and be a good boy.”, he let out an irritated sigh and pulled the visitor chair closer to the bed, which wasn't an easy task considering the older man had his right wrist trapped in a death grip. Was he afraid Jason would make a run for it, as soon as he let go?  
“Sure.” Dick nodded enthusiastically and flopped back down on the bed, which only caused him to wince in pain. A self-mocking laugh left his lips when he caught his breath. This caused the scowl directed at him from teal-colored eyes to darken further. “You're a careless fool, you know that, right?”, Jason growled but he couldn't hide his own lips twitching into something akin to a smirk. Dick's laughing was contagious.   
“Yes..”, blue eyes met his. Expression honest. “I'm a careless HAPPY fool”, the soft smile reverberating in Dick's voice. His hand let go of Jason's wrist to intertwine their fingers, squeezing them. Again he managed to pull the rug out under the younger man's feet. Damn. But Jason sure as hell did NOT avert his eyes. The opposite wall was just rather fascinating. All blank and all. And his own heartbeat was so NOT drumming in his ears. Just when he thought he might gain back his composure Dick had to open his mouth again. “...You mentioned Dr. Thompkins..you did eavesdrop on her rounds, right? You where watching over me this whole time..?”, it was more a statement than a question. Fuck. Pretty boy was far too smart for his own good sometimes. Well they were raised by the world's greatest detective after all. Jason let out a defeated groan and let his head drop on the mattress next to their linked hands. “Will you please shut up blabbing nonsense Dickiebird...? Else I might suffocate you with your pillow..”, it was an empty threat. Was it possible to die from embarrassment? If so he was only a heartbeat away. The warm and fuzzy feeling spreading from his stomach didn't mind though.

The mentioned detective decides to pay a late visit to his oldest adoptive son and former partner in the early hours of morning. It doesn't take the world's best to take in the scene in front of him though. He raises one eyebrow. But he is going to give them the illusion of secrecy for a little while longer. Without making a single sound he pulls the door by the handle he was still holding shut, leaving the two young man to sleep in peace. Dick wears a soft smile on his face, Jason's head is buried between his arms. His broad torso resting on the bed. Their hands still intertwined.


End file.
